Turbocharged and supercharged engines may be configured to compress ambient air entering the engine in order to increase power. Because compression of the air may cause an increase in air temperature, a charge air cooler may be utilized to cool the heated air thereby increasing its density and further increasing the potential power of the engine. If the humidity of the ambient air is high, however, condensation (e.g., water droplets) may form on any internal surface of the charge air cooler that is cooler than the dew point of the compressed air. During transient conditions such as hard vehicle acceleration, these water droplets may be blown out of the charge air cooler and into the combustion chambers of the engine resulting in increased potential for engine misfire, loss of torque and engine speed, and incomplete combustion, for example.
One approach for reducing the amount of condensation entering the combustion chambers is disclosed in US Patent Application Publication 2011/0094219 A1. In the cited reference, a condensation trap for a charge air cooler that reduces the rate at which condensation enters the combustion chambers of the engine is disclosed. The condensation trap includes a reservoir for collecting the condensate and a tube for releasing the condensate back to the outlet duct.
The inventors herein have recognized various issues with the above system. In particular, the condensation trap is positioned downstream of the charge air cooler and thus can only collect condensation downstream from an outlet of the charge air cooler. This configuration may not adequately address condensation trapped within the charge air cooler. Furthermore, condensation traps necessitate additional componentry that may increase the cost and the packaging space of the charge air cooler.
As such, one example approach to address the above issues includes a charge air coder comprising an inlet to admit charge air, a plurality of heat exchange passages to remove heat from the charge air, an outlet configured to discharge the charge air from the heat exchange passages to an intake passage upstream of an intake manifold of an engine, and a dispersion element extending at least partially across the outlet.
In this way, condensate that accumulates in the charge air coder may be driven out of the coder via movement of the charge air. However, the condensate which enters the engine during idle conditions may be problematic in that the engine is likely to misfire under these conditions.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following detailed description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying